Naruto and Tora
by mellra
Summary: While walking through the woods one day, a young Naruto discovers a hidden temple that contains a summoning contract for an old and dangerous species. How will this affect our young hero's life? Eventual Naru/Hina.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing manga or anime related. All characters belong to their respective owners. Good day to you sirs and madams!**

This is a slight Naruto + Ushio and Tora crossover:

Naruto Uzumaki was feeling down today. Check that, he felt down most days despite his mask of happiness that he wears on a daily basis. The reason behind this was that he was in a constant state of loneliness. Now most kids at the age of seven would maybe have a friend or two and would most likely have an adult guardian of some sort who would be with them on a daily basis. Naruto was not most seven year olds, however, because he had found out early in his life that most adults would ignore him for the most part, save for the occasional insult thrown his way. The adults, in turn would tell their children to avoid him at all costs, saying things that he was a bad child that would hurt them if they got to close.

This was not true, however. The reason behind why the adults seemed to want nothing to do with the boy was because, on the day Naruto was born, a terrible monster called the Nine Tailed Fox Demon nearly destroyed the village. The village's current leader, the Fourth Hokage, had to seal this beast away into the infant Naruto, as killing the Fox would only delay the destruction until he formed again in a few years. The sealing cost the Fourth Hokage his life, but before he died he asked that the boy would be treated as a hero for containing the demon. The villagers, however, mostly ignored this order due to the mental scars held from the Fox's attack. While the people of Konoha did not do anything to physically harm the boy, they made sure that he would not feel wanted by basically ignoring his existence since before he could talk. None of the children knew that Naruto held the Fox, thanks to a law that the Third Hokage passed after he retook his mantel after the death of his predecessor. However, as previously mentioned, the villagers were able to find a loophole in the Third's law. While they could not directly tell their children about why to avoid Naruto, they settled for telling them to stay away from the boy and trusting that the children would obey their parents.

Because of this, Naruto has spent the majority of his young life alone, with the exception of visits from the Third Hokage, who Naruto had come to view as a surrogate grandfather figure, as well as Ayame and Teuchi Ichiraku who owned the ramen stand that he frequently visited. There was also Iruka-sensei, who while at first seemed to act wary of the boy, had later seemed to warm up to him somewhat and actually answered his questions at the academy, as opposed to the other teachers who just ignored him like the rest of the villagers. Even with these few people in his life, Naruto found most of his time alone because the people that were nice to them couldn't fit time outside of their busy work lives to constantly be with him. There were some students at the Academy who seemed friendly enough, namely among the clan heirs, but a majority seemed to act indifferent to Naruto's presence. Early in his life, Naruto had discovered that acting sad didn't make his problems go away, so he made up a mask of a happy-go-lucky goofball who pranked a majority of the villagers at one time or another. This did not, however, alleviate the heartbreak he felt whenever he saw other children playing with each other in the park or whenever he saw happy families going through town together.

Today was different from the usual emotional pain, however. Naruto had just left the Academy after being thoroughly beaten by the class's top student, Sauske Uchiha. While the loss itself had hurt, it was how the other students laughed and mocked him that really got to him. While he might enjoy doing the occasional prank to get people to acknowledge him, the fact that the students were laughing at his failure weighed heavily with his other emotional baggage. The thing that really got to him was that there wasn't a single sympathetic face in the jeering crowd to give him some comfort at his loss. Well, there was one, but Naruto didn't notice this as the pale lavender eyed girl lowered her head in a shy manner the second he looked her way. Naruto was wandering through the dense forests surrounding the village of Konoha, trying to clear his head from the torrent of depressing thoughts.

"_I wonder if I'll ever have any friends,"_ Naruto thought sadly, _"Maybe this wouldn't hurt so badly if there was someone I could truly relate to."_

So caught up in his thoughts that Naruto completely missed the root in his path until he tripped over it and tumbled into a hidden hole off the side of the path he was walking on.

"Oof!" Naruto cried out as he hit the hard stone floor of the hole he fell through. "Oh great, as if this day wasn't bad enough as it was already!" Naruto whined as he picked himself up and shook the cobwebs in his head. "Where am I? I've never seen this place before. It almost looks like it was built!" Naruto noticed as he looked at the carved walls and floor with the little light provided to him through the hole in the ceiling. "Whoa, this place is kinda freaky looking. It almost looks like something out of a cliché horror anime that Old Man Hokage sometimes let me watch. I better get out of here before something else happens! Wait a second, how am I supposed to get out?!" Naruto yelped as he then noticed that there were no steps or way to climb out of the hole he fell through 10 feet above his head.

"Well isn't this just awesome, first there was that match against Sauske-teme and now I get trapped in some hole in the middle of the frickin' forest!" Naruto grumbled out loud. "Well, no sense sitting around here better sees if there's another way out that I can actually reach! Man, I hate being short!" Naruto reasoned as he started looking through the deep hole he fell through, careful not to stray too far from the light so he wouldn't become even more lost.

Suddenly, Naruto's hand felt a switch along the wall and, being the curious child that he was, decided to press it to see what would happen, regardless of the consequences. A door panel to his right immediately shot open, and Naruto could make out a dim light at the end of the tunnel. Thinking it was a possible way out Naruto carefully edged his way down the corridor. He jumped with a yelp as the door panel suddenly slammed shut behind him! Trying to prevent his beating heart from jumping out of his chest, Naruto took a nervous gulp to swallow the lump in his throat and continued his way down the tunnel. When he reached the light, Naruto gapped at what he saw. It seemed he had found his way into some old abandoned temple of some sorts. There were old scrolls and books lining up the walls and the ceiling was made of a beautiful painted glass that gave off a mysterious glow, despite the fact that it was obviously underground and there was no sunlight present to explain where the light was coming from. Naruto looked around the room, hoping to find some form of an escape route. Finding none, he sighed and then decided to look through the scrolls. While Naruto normally did not enjoy reading, he reasoned that he might be able to find a map of this place so he could figure out where the exit was, or at least find out wherever "here" was! After an hour of searching Naruto was starting to lose hope that he would ever find a way out of this place.

"I wonder how long it will be before the Old Man realizes that I'm gone," Naruto muttered, "What if nobody finds me down here, or worse, what if no one even bothers to come looking for me!" Naruto thought with a start.

Just as Naruto was about to break down and cry, he noticed a scroll that was slightly above the others on the shelf. What stood out about this scroll was that it was incredibly thick with decorative handles sticking out of both sides, and the fact that it had a necklace of some sort wrapped around it that had six magenta beads in the shape of comma marks surrounding it. His curiosity perked, Naruto took the scroll off the shelf and started into a coughing fit as the dust from the shelf poured right on his face. The first thing he noticed was that the scroll was incredibly old, but wasn't brittle at all despite the obvious age the parchment carried. As Naruto carefully unfurled the scroll, he also took note that the words written in them were clear as day, but were written in a very old dialect. It took Naruto a good thirty minutes, but he was finally able to summarize what the paper said. In its contents it stated:

"_To whoever finds this place; let it be known that those with ill intent can never use the contents of this room, for there are special seals placed at the entrance that prohibit anyone but the purest of hearts from entering. As for whom I am, my name has long since been cast aside for my quest, but most people have taken to calling me the Sage of the Six Paths, and these are a recollection of my life. Some say that I am the father of modern ninjutsu, and while that is true to an extent thanks to the power I possess called the Rinnegan, I did __not__ learn my abilities on my own. _

_A few years after I had unlocked the powers of my eyes and had started to master the energies located in myself and every living being, called chakra by some, I had discovered a group of races that live outside our dimension. These beings are similar to the animals of our world; however they all possess intelligence equal to or greater than humanities. I have found out that these beings also have an understanding of chakra, even more so than my own. I felt that there is much to be gained by working with these different races, so I went to study under the multitude of different animal clans: from the Toad sages to the healing Slugs and the violent Snakes, they all have a different fighting style and philosophy on life itself. It was through them that I was able to learn as much as I did, if they were not around to guide me on the ways of chakra, it would have taken me many more years than it did to learn all that I now know. The clans told me of a technique called the Summoning Jutsu that by going through a certain series of hand seals allow us to summon them to our dimension and vice-versa, all that is needed is a contract sealed in blood to mark our partnership. If one performs the hand seals and does not have a contract, they will instantly be summoned to the realm of the animal they have the greatest affinity to. I myself had written a contract with most, if not all the species, and am able to summon any of them at will. They also informed me that anyone possessing by Rinnegan will also have a contract with all the animal clans. _

_There was one clan, however, that stood out among the rest. This species was known as the bakemono, and they were one of the most powerful clans in existence. They had perfected mastering chakra to the point where they not only could manipulate the elements better than the strongest ninjutsu, but they possess a number of abilities that few humans could ever hope to match such as flight, lightning like speeds, claws stronger than steel, the ability to become invisible to the naked eye, near immortality, and strength that few could match. It was with a certain bakemono that I had formed a contract with, for unlike other summons, the bakemono only do individual contract summons due to their belief in hunting alone. Also unlike other summons, the bakemono can stay in this realm for an infinite amount of time while other summons must head back to their world after they are either called back or run out of chakra. This certain bakemono decided to follow me because, in his own words, "It would amuse me." We went on many adventures together that are further detailed in this scroll, including in his help in defeating and sealing the Jubi into me. _

_As I am nearing the end of my life, my bakemono friend suggests placing his contract into this scroll located at the bottom of this insert. All that is needed to activate it is a little blood to be smeared across and for chakra to be placed into it. There are also details on the hand seals required for the sealing next to it. The reason that I am telling you this is because the reason you have gotten this far into this chamber is because the sealing wards I have placed have deemed you pure of heart and worthy enough to carry out my mission after I am gone: to bring peace to this world. The bakemono would most certainly help you in this but be warned: the bakemono are a proud species and will most likely test you on your worthiness to work with them. He would most likely kill you if he finds you unworthy, so you can sign the contract at your own risk. Best of luck!" _

The scroll went on, but Naruto ignored the rest in favor of staring at a seal placed dead center in the scroll just after the ending of the first insert. Right below it was a detailed description of the hand seals required, which were just like the ones Naruto learned in the Academy. Naruto's mind was racing through different thoughts. His first thought was on how cool it was that he discovered an article from someone who shaped the ninja world into what is was today. Another was that he now realized that the scrolls and books filling the room were research scrolls the Sage of the Six Paths left behind, and that they undoubtedly held many secrets and awesome techniques he could use! Naruto's main thoughts were on the sealing scroll before him though.

"Do I really want to sign this?" He mused, "I mean it would be awesome to have such a cool summon like the bakemono, but the Sage says that this one would kill me if he doesn't find me worthy enough! What should I do?"

Naruto thought about it for a grand total of three and a half minutes before he reached his decision. He was Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of Konoha! If he was scared over something like this, how would he be able to become the village's strongest ninja? He also reasoned that the bakemono would accept him no problem thanks to how awesome he is! So, tossing caution to the wind, Naruto bit into his thumb and placed the blood across the seal, focusing his chakra into it like how Iruka-sensei taught him to open a sealing scroll. There was a small poof of smoke and when it cleared there was another large scroll on top of the other one. He opened up the scroll and saw that you were supposed to place your name and hand print by comparing what the Sage did, however the Sage's name was mysteriously blotted out. After signing both his name and placing his bloody hand print on the open space on the seal thanks to his still bleeding thumb, Naruto slowly went through the hand seals described on the other scroll so he wouldn't mess up. After he was certain he did them all correctly, he focused his chakra and yelled, "Summoning Jutsu!"

There was another, though much larger, puff of smoke that filled the room and as it cleared, Naruto could make out a shape taking form in the smoke. It was then that a deep growling voice called out to him, making him nearly have a heart attack for a second time that day. The voice said, "Well this is a surprise, never thought another human would summon me to this world."

**AN: **All righty then! So this is one of the stories that I've been thinking of posting for a while, however I'm not 100% sure how to continue it. The main idea is to have Tora from the old anime Ushio and Tora to be Naruto's personal summon and will help him become a better shinobi. For those of you who don't know Ushio and Tora is an older manga/anime that was finished back in 1999 I believe. I've really loved Tora's character and I thought he'd make a really cool summon animal for Naruto. I'ld highly recommend the anime/manga to those who haven't watched it before. Now this story won't be updated as much as 'Chimera Luffy' but it will update sporadically if I can think of how to continue it. If anyone has any ideas please PM me. Thanks so much and as always Read and Review!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

**Chapter 2**

Naruto gaped as the smoke caused by the summoning faded and the owner of the voice was revealed. The being before him was _huge_! Naruto was fairly small for his age but he knew just by looking that the creature was at least a full foot taller than Iruka-sensei, at least seven feet in height! The being was covered in burnt orange fur (Naruto's inner orange fan-boy squealed in delight) with black stripes running along his back, face, and arms. The bakemono stood on two legs like a man, but its hind legs were shaped like most cats and dogs. Its arms had human-shaped hands that ended in knife-like claws that were at least a foot long, more than capable of slicing right through him like a loaf of bread! Naruto also noticed a cat-like tail swishing behind the beasts back. Slightly darker orange hair hanged from its head all the way down its back and had a part right above the face that was a shocking white color.

It was the beast's face though, that drew most of Naruto's attention. It had wide, pupil-less eyes that seemed to glow with power and ferocity. The mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth that could easily go through solid stone if it had to. What was interesting though was that depending how you looked at the face it looked a mix between animal and human. There was a muzzle, but it was smaller than a dogs and if you looked directly at the front it was almost non-existent. All in all, it was an awe-inspiring and frightening image to behold.

Naruto was shook out of his trance-like state when the bakemono spoke again in a deep, gravelly voice that indicated the being was male, "Huh, so this is my new summoner eh? A lot smaller than my previous one that's for sure. Doubt you'd even be a mouthful of a snack."

Despite the thing called common-sense that was screaming at him to keep quiet, Naruto gained a tick-mark on his head as he shouted at the monster, "Don't call me little! I'm not a runt, I just haven't hit my growth-spurt yet and your too tall anyway, idiot!"

The creature's eyes widened slightly before he gave a deep belly laugh and he reached down before picking Naruto up by the back of his shirt before bringing the boy to eye level. The beast glared at his summoner and growled out "Of course you're a runt! A suicidal runt at that if yah think talking to me like that's good for your health. Besides, what's a pipsqueak like you gonna do if I keep calling you that, hu- Gah!?"

The monster was cut off mid speech as Naruto's foot got introduced to his face, causing the beast to let go of the brat and clutch at his aching nose. He looked at the boy with tear-filled eyes and growled out, "What was that for, you stupid brat?!" though it sounded more like a whine. Quickly regaining his composure, the monster stood at his full intimidating height and gave a roar, "Idiot mortal! Do you have any idea who I am?! I'm Lord Nagatobimaru, master of the bakemono and slayer of both man and beast! Who do you think you are, huh?!"

Naruto stared defiantly back at the yokai, his mind filled with stubborn determination. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and I'll be the greatest Hokage there ever was, yah stupid cat!"

The now named Nagatobimaru growled at the 'cat' comment before calming his mind, refusing to let a little brat get a rise out of him. The beast looked at the boy with his white eyes and said, "Despite your clear lack of respect, I'm guessing you're not a _complete_ waste of my time if you were able to summon me. Tell me though; why in the hell should I work with you? Answer carefully brat, 'cause your next words could be your last."

Although not the brightest person around, Naruto understood that he had somehow crossed the line when he summoned the beast. While not above being selfish, the boy's inherently good nature overcame his desire to somehow weasel his way out of the uncomfortable situation as he admitted, "I… just wanted to summon something, anything."

Not satisfied by the boy's answer, Nagatobimaru demanded, "For what?"

Looking as horribly dejected as he felt, the boy explained, "To show everyone that I can be an awesome ninja like my idol, the Fourth Hokage and… to have a friend…"

The monster stared at him for a minute with a piercing stare, and Naruto shifted uncomfortably as those pure white orbs seemed to stare into his soul. Finally, Nagatobimaru sighed and said, "All right brat, I'll give you the benefit of a doubt, for now. Y' clearly have some potential to be able to find this place and summon me of all beings. But know this," his voice became more growl-like, "If for some reason, any reason at all, I find no reason to stick around, I'm off. And if you continue to tick me off, I just may have a snack before leaving, if you get my meaning," he said while flashing his sharp white teeth, causing Naruto to gulp.

"Now," the summons said, "I'm gonna do a quick run through your mind, just to see what I'm working with."

Naruto looked surprised, "Run through my mind? How're you going t' do that?"

"Like this," Nagatobimaru stated before reaching out with one of his claws and placing it on the boy's forehead, causing both beings to freeze up and go still.

**Scene Break**

The tiger-like monster blinked as he found himself in a sewer-like background. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, the man-beast growled out, "Man, what kinda crappy life does this kid live to have _this _for a mindscape?" Going through the winding hall, the tiger found himself in front of a large room with an equally large cage at one end. Curious, the bakemono moved over to the cage, walking on top of the water to do so, and found himself staring at a huge slumbering fox with nine waving tales.

The smaller monster cocked an eyebrow and then said, "Huh? What're you doing in t' brat Kurama?"

The fox twitched at the voice and slowly woke up, stretching to his true, intimidating height. Then the fox growled out, **"Who dares disturb the great Kyu- huh?"** it was then he noticed the other presence in the room. The fox's red eyes went comically wide and he did his best version of a bow he could do in the cage he was trapped in. The Nine-Tailed Fox then stammered out, **"L-Lord Na-Nagatobimaru! How have you been? I haven't seen you since before the old man died! How in the world did you get into the brat's mindscape? The humans didn't seal you in here too did they!?"**

The tiger snickered at the fox's antics and then said, "First of all, I've been fine except a bit bored over the millennia. Second of all, no I'm not sealed, just checking out the mind of my latest summoner. Lastly, how'd you get your furry but sealed into this brat?"

The Kyubi's mouth did an impressive impersonation of a goldfish as he gaped at the much smaller animal and stuttered, **"S-summoner?! Him!? But that's…How did…HUH?!"**

"As amused as I am by your 'smart' conversation, this is getting a bit troublesome," the tiger grumbled before he phased through the bars of the seal and smacked the fox upside the head, causing the titan to go flying into the ceiling before coming down with a resounding 'CRASH!' After Kurama shook the dancing hippos out of his head, he then looked back at the tiger with a more respectable expression on his face. "That's better," Nagatobimaru smirked and then told the fox how the blond midget had found the hidden chamber of the Sage of the Six Paths and had found his summoning contract.

Kurama, in turn, informed him of everything that has happened in the world since the summon had gone back to his realm. The Kyubi got a tick-mark as the tiger rolled around on the ground in hysterical laughter after being told about his run in with the Gold and Silver Brothers of Hidden Cloud. Nagatobimaru then gained a somber expression when Kurama told him about Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju's infamous struggle and how he got dragged into it, and about his next three imprisonments. After telling him of the events from his last release, the monster then gave a sigh.

"Well, this world sure has had some interesting things happen to it, huh?" Nagatobimaru said as he cracked a pointed grin, "It's been great catching up Kurama, especially since the last time I saw you, you were barely bigger than I was. Now I'm guessing the brat doesn't know about you yet then?" Seeing the great fox shake his head, Nagatobimaru gave a nod and said, "Well, I guess I'll leave your presence a secret for now, till the people responsible for the kid decide to tell him. Who knows, maybe I can properly introduce the two of you when the time is right." Noticing Kurama's disbelieving look the summon then said chidingly, "Oh come on, give the kid a chance will yah? I mean, if I can tolerate him surely you can. Anyway, while it's been great catching up and all I need to go through th' kid's memories yet so I'll catch you around, 'kay?"

With a wave of his clawed hand, the summon then went out of the sealing chamber and proceeded to go through his summoner's memories. Nagatobimaru gave a growl as he saw how cold most of the villagers treated Naruto, but he then saw the select few that actually seemed to give a crap about the blond while also noticing the boy's pale-eyed stalker and gave a snicker as he thought on all the fun he could have messing with the two till they noticed each other. The tiger then noticed the boy's determination and strength of will despite his life, and gave a satisfied nod as he decided he'd found a good summoner for now.

**Scene Break**

While it may have seem like hours for the bakemono, in truth only 2 seconds had passed in the real world. After he lowered his claw, the boy looked at the beast and asked, "Is everything alright Tora?"

The summon froze, "What the hell'd you call me?!" he asked in a dangerous voice.

Naruto looked bashful, "Well I tried thinking of how to pronounce your name but I kinda had a rough time with it so I figured I'd call you 'Tora' for short, cause you look kinda like a tiger."

The now dubbed Tora gave an exasperated sigh, "Why'd I hafta get such an idiot as a summoner?" ignoring the boys indignant look he continued, "Well good news for you brat is that I've deemed you worthy of being the summoner of my awesome self so be grateful. I'll teach you everything that yah need to know but don't think I'll go easy on you," he gave a fanged smirk to the now pale blond. "After all, if you're gonna be my summoner that means you're going to be representing me, and I can't have a weakling as a summoner now can I? Any questions?"

"Just one, how do we get outa here?" asked Naruto as he noticed they were still in the chamber with no visible way out.

Tora snorted and said, "That's easy enough. Climb on my back brat, and if you make so much as one horse comment I swear to God I'll eat you feet first!"

The blond gulped again and climbed onto his new summons's back. The tiger then shot into the air, much to Naruto's shock, and phased right through the roof as if it wasn't there at all. Thus begins a beautiful friendship…

"Ouch! Watch the hair you idiot!"

…or not.

**AN:** So I figured I'd try and squeeze a second chapter out of this story. I want you all to know I appreciate the support you've all given me in this and my other stories, but I also want you to know that this story may not update frequently, as the only thing I really had going idea wise for this was having Tora as Naruto's summon and having him teach the boy a few things over the years. As for Tora and Kurama's conversation, the two knew each other shortly after the Sage had made the Biju, because he kept Tora close to him at all times. As such, the Biju hold a great deal of respect for the summon and view him kinda as an uncle. Strength wise I'd place Tora as around the Jubi's first and weakest form, but he'll hold a lot back because a) he doesn't want to accidently kill some random human and b) he doesn't want to hold Naruto's hand by solving all of the blonde's problems with his power. I may go back and edit this chapter a bit later but we'll see. Till then, Read and Review and I hope you guys enjoy!


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